Hi, my name is Matt.
I'm almost
two years old in this picture, and my family is very curious about how
I'll be treated when I start school in a few years. You see, I have a
trach
and it needs cleaning out occasionally so my breathing can be pretty
noisy.

Do you know what
a trach is?
Very few kids do. It's this metal tube that goes into my neck so that I
can catch my breath. Of course most people don't need such a metal
tube,
but I do. If I didn't have one of these, I would have a very hard time
getting enough air, so I guess that I'm glad that I have it!

Right now I'm
about the size
of a 1 yr old, and with my medical problems, I'll never be big enough
to
climb the stairs of a schoolbus. I may never get very big the way most
of you are, but I do have a great big giant heart, and I think
that
you'd really like me a lot!

I don't talk yet
but everybody
thinks that when I do, I'll have a high voice.

Well, goodnight,
I've had a
long day. If I see you in school in a few years, I hope that you'll be
nice to me, even if I sound a little squeaky and am much littler than
you
are. I can't wait to meet
you!

Love, Matt

Well,
that
was me then. Check me out now, in August, at the bottom of the
page.
I have improved so much since I last wrote.

Guess what...I'm
going to start
school on my third birthday--September 28th. Everyone's working
hard
to try to get rid of the trach I told you about, and even though I
still
can't speak, I CAN sign and I make some pretty interesting sounds to
try
to tell everyone what's up.

I still use a
walker, but only
when everyone makes me...not my favorite thing to do. You should meet
my
sister. She treats me like...well, like any big sister would. She's two
years older than I am. Sometimes we're friends and sometimes we
fight!